Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Back to Little Things

Fall is coming. It may still be a couple months away, but it IS coming... I hope.
I am going to sew like it's coming anyway.
My four-year-old, Eden, has a pretty substantial wardrobe, but many of the pieces I've made for her recently won't transition into cooler weather easily. So I've been cutting and planning and sewing.

I bought $50 worth of fabrics in a shop in Marietta, GA last time we went to visit the family and I'm determined to dig right into it. I find that if I let it sit, I lose my enthusiasm for sewing it and it just piles up.
Here are a few of the things I've accomplished so far.

This would be an obvious "back to school" choice in fabrics, but I really just got it because it caught my eye and when I picked up the bolt for a closer look, Eden said, "I really like that one!" That, of course, sealed the deal. She's been really into Hello Kitty lately, so I bought a fun Hello Kitty themed ribbon for the bottom. This is Simplicity 6884 shortened to a blouse. I took out half the pleats too because I thought four pleats on front and back might be a bit much with the "skirt" being just a peplum. I just acquired some brown knit Matilda Jane ruffles that I think will look cute with this.

This is another top I technically made for Eden, but Arielle, whose torso is almost the exact same size around wanted to wear it first, so she got to be my model. I finally used the leftovers of this owl fabric that was languishing in my extra fabric pile. I had cut the rest of the yard into a bag that was never sewn up. :(

Here is a dress I really did make with Arielle in mind. Eden is jealous and wants a t-shirt dress now, so I might have to work that into the plans for the rest of my fabric. These are so comfy and I think this style will look particularly cute with a cardigan.

This top is just my own design. I've sewn enough different bodices now for Eden that I have a pretty good idea of how to do what I envision. I just cut out what I new I needed and sewed it up. No pattern pieces or even drawing on the fabric. I just eyed it. Of course, this means I can't duplicate it without tracing around this one.

I know this still looks like summer, but I made the skinny straps (which you can't see in this picture) specifically because I prefer that look with a shirt under. I'll make her some pants to match, but in the meantime, I whipped up some shorts.

The shorts are MonkeysBug Sweet Sailor Ruffle Shorts and I really like the design and the fit. I don't like them styled as MonkeysBug styles them. I really don't think they look sailorish at all and I wasn't going to force it. Maybe they would in the right fabrics. They were a good alternative for me to the Oliver + S Picnic Shorts.

Cute and easy pocket detail on the back. I have already stolen this pocket to use on two other garments because it's just that cute.

And then here's a little sneaky peak of some pants I made myself. I was trying them with the Matilda Jane Peppermint Dress just to see. That is eyelet trim peeking out from the bottom! I'm getting more into embellishments lately. I'll style them up for you later.